Lover's Last Breath
by Black Beyond
Summary: This is another of my wtf?! ficcies. I've dropped in two new characters. All of you will hate one or the other. I've guaranteed it. Don't believe me? Ha. Read and Believe.... (ack! run! the firstchapter is pure sap! don't read it! pleeeaaasseee!!!)
1. SAP WARNING!

Lover's Last Breath   
Test Chapter  
  
(this will be removed if no reviews appear. Yes, please,   
flame me. If this thing sucks I want to know. This is my  
first real attempt at this kind of yuckiness)  
  
IGNORE THIS EXTREMELY SAPPY PART. SKIP DOWN. PLEASE.  
(the authoress would like to keep some of her dignity)  
  
  
She stood in front of the sliding glass door, staring down at the streets below as she brushed out her long, dark curls. She combed it into a low ponytail and was about to tie it, when two arms suddenly embraced her tenderly.  
  
"Don't tie up your hair." A sultry whisper in her ear made her knees go weak, as though she were fifteen again and he was her first love. "It's too beautiful."  
  
A low laugh clawed out of her throat. "Why shouldn't I? It's in my way. Do you expect me to clean with it hanging in my face?" She leant back into her lover's arms, relishing the feeling.  
  
She felt him sigh deeply. "Why clean? Nothing's dirty.   
And I don't expect you to clean. I expect you to be   
beautiful."  
  
She smiled. "Is that all you expect of me?" Her eyes were   
half-closed. The security she felt, enwrapped in his strong   
arms, was like nothing she'd ever had before.   
  
"Well, amoung other things..." She could see his wicked   
smirk.   
  
"Of course. My dearest Michael can't go without his luvvie."   
She giggled as he began to tickle her. "Don't! Don't!" She   
cried out in vain as he scooped her up into his arms and   
tossed her into the air. Her head nearly brushed the   
ceiling, and she screamed as he caught her, and they both   
fell to the lush carpeting.  
  
"And you, my love, need to gain weight." He nuzzled her stomach. "You're much too thin. Doctor's orders."  
  
She pouted at him, her lip quivering in a most becoming way.   
"But I eat all the time, Mikey. Isn't my fault the doctor   
thinks I don't."  
  
"I know." He cuddled her like a teddy bear. "But you are   
skinny."  
  
"I can't help it. I've always been this way." Oriental   
tongues plagued her speech, as they did when she was upset.   
"And I don't want to eat all that horrible fat stuff."  
  
Michael smiled against her waist. "You know I can't argue   
with you, Usa. Never could."  
  
She grinned. "Hey, quit it. That tickles!" She beat him with   
a pillow to smother his yelp. "Yes, I know you can't. I exploit it,   
remember? That's how I got the carpet, the furniture, the   
absence of your poodle..."  
  
One eyebrow quirked. "Oh, you do, don't you!" He began to   
tickle her mercilessly. "I'll teach you, won't I?"  
  
Between shriekes of laughter, she begged him to stop, but he   
only did after the doorbell rang. He sat up, looking down at   
her. "Go get on something decent, love. I'll get the door."  
  
She lifted one elegant brow. "I'm not decent, am I?"  
  
He swatted at her as he stood up and headed down the   
hallway, manuevering around the half-packed boxes and chests   
until he finally found the door.  
  
He opened it, and came face to face with the most stunning   
blonde he'd ever seen.  
  
She looked up at him, and her face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry."   
Her words were pleasantly British. "I've got the wrong   
house. I was looking for Usagi Moonstone..."  
  
He grinned at her. "No, you've got the right place. She's my   
girlfriend."  
  
Her blue eyes went impossibly wide. "G-g-girlfriend?" She   
stuttered, staring at him incrediously, from his curly   
blonde hair to the boxers and t-shirt he wore. "Usagi-- has   
a boyfriend?"  
  
He winked at her. "Well, I hope to make her more than that.   
But don't tell her. Come on in... she's getting dressed. I   
didn't catch your name--"  
  
She seemed stunned, and more and more so by the moment.   
  
"Minako. Minako Aino."  
  
"You're Japanese?"  
  
She nodded. "Yes, how did you--"  
  
He gestured to the boxes that littered every other inch of   
floor space. "We're moving there. My work."  
  
"What do you do?"  
  
He smiled at her. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."  
  
"Mikey, who are you teasing out there? Hey, don't listen to   
him." Usagi's beautiful soprano floated in from behind a   
door. "He's a bloody politic... MINAKO!" She froze to a dead   
stop in the doorway, every drop of blood in her face   
vanishing. "What are YOU doing HERE?"  
  
Minako smiled a bit wryly. "Believe me. It wasn't easy.   
You're harder to track than a ghost, girl." One delicate   
eyebrow rasied ever so slightly. "One would think you didn't   
want me to find you."  
  
Usagi's expression was sour. "Whatever gave you that idea?" She deadpanned.  
  
Michael was watching the exchange, confused. He'd met Usagi   
when they were costarring in a small theatre play. She was   
the most gorgeous brunette he'd ever laid eyes on and she   
actually loved him back. He had noticed she was very vague   
about her past-- oriental and difficult. He'd never known   
her to have any friends, and she'd told him her only family   
was in Japan.  
  
"Uhm... let's see... you changed your look, your name, your   
style, your intelligence, your methods, your taste..." She   
glanced towards the baffled Michael. "I compliment the   
change in taste, though."  
  
Usagi smiled a little. "Michael and I have been together for   
a while." She smiled at him. "I love him."  
  
Minako's smile slipped just a noticable bit.   
  
Usagi seemed more relaxed, now, however. She smiled at   
Minako. "Mikey's a really nice guy. Unlike others...   
wouldn't you agree?" There was something dangerous about the   
purr in Usagi's voice that made Michael nervous and Minako   
look away.  
  
Michael cleared his throat. Both women looked at him. He   
looked at Usagi. "I think I'll leave you two to catch up...   
I've got a couple of things to pick up before I start   
packing the clothes."  
  
Usagi nodded. "Are you getting the luggage out of storage?"  
  
Michael shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."  
  
Usagi grinned. "Goodie! Uhm... don't get the heavy stuff   
unless someone is there to help you, okay?" She frowned.   
"Okay?" She persisted, moving closer to him, her hands on   
her hips. "You're not allowed to move anything heavy. You'll   
hurt yourself, and then I'd cry." She pouted. "DO you want   
me to cry?"  
  
He looked helplessly to Minako, but the blonde was   
snickering into a pillow. He looked down at his girlfriend,   
his face red. She was giving him The Look. The look that   
made him want to give her the world on a golden platter. The   
look that was merciless.   
  
"ALright!" He caved finally, sacrificing his pride. Usagi   
made up for it by pulling him down to kiss her. Minako   
looked away-- it was one of those kisses that probably would   
have errupted into something more than a kiss if company   
hadn't have been there. Michael left quickly and Usagi   
jumped into a chair across from Minako.  
  
"That was cruel." Minako giggled.  
  
Usagi batted her eyes. "Yeah. But I don't want him to get   
all macho and pull a muscle somewhere important." She   
smriked.  
  
Minako leaned forward. "How serious are you too?"  
  
Usagi blushed a little. "Serious enough. I want to marry   
him, Minako. He's everything I could ever ask for. And from   
what I've been able to poke at, he won't mind being king."  
  
"But Mamoru--"  
  
Usagi closed her eyes tightly. "Forget about it, Minako. The   
day I marry him is the day hell freezes over and declares   
Beryl fit for heaven." She pursed her lips. "I don't want   
anything to do with him. He's a soldier, and a prince. But I   
have rights over the earth. He's only king if I marry him.   
And he knew it."  
  
Minako looked away. "You're right. I don't know how else to   
say it. But in the future, you were married to him."  
  
"The future changes. Ask Setsuna."  
  
"That's one of the problems. We can't find her. She   
disappeared the same day you did. We know she's alive--   
Haruka says that her business and bank accounts are being   
handled. And they only take orders from Setsuna."  
  
"I could have told you that." Usagi smiled at Minako.   
Haven't you talked to Hotaru lately? I have. And so has   
Setsuna." Usagi laughed a little at Minako's expression.   
"Yes, Hotaru. The goth college chick. My spy and Setsuna's   
update center. Which, by the way, she's returning as of   
tomorrow."  
  
"I can't believe it."  
  
"Please, don't." Usagi pulled her legs up under her.   
  
"So you know about Rei and Yuichiro."  
  
"Only had a heart attack. I never actually thought she'd   
marry him. Let alone get pregnant."  
  
Minako shrugged. "There hasn't been any senshi activities   
for a long time, Usagi. She figured it would be okay... and   
Yuichiro still doesn't know." Her eyes glittered. "And she's   
going to have twins."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"Shhh! She doesn't know! You see, Ami did the scans and Rei   
didn't want to know what she was having. So Ami had to fight   
tooth and nail too keep a straight face-- it was fantastic!   
A boy and a girl." Minako's eyes widened. "Makoto fainted."  
  
"I would have too! Why didn't Hotaru tell me?"  
  
"Ami only told Makoto and I."  
  
"Oh." Something Minako had mentioned before suddenly struck   
her. "Yuichiro doesn't know?"  
  
Minako's grin dropped immediatly, and she shook her head   
solemnly. "We kept the secret. We haven't told anyone. Not   
even your parents." Minako sighed. "Usagi, if you'd only   
call them. Write them a letter." She pleaded. "Ikuko hasn't   
been the same. Neither has Kenji. And Shingo tried looking   
for you."  
  
Usagi turned away. "I'm going with Mikey to Tokyo. I'll try   
to go see them." She bit her lip. "Minako, what am I   
supposed to say to them? 'Oh, I disappeared for six years   
because I was pissed about finding Mamoru sleeping with some   
redhead and I didn't want Tokyo to find out I was   
Sailormoon,'?" She gritted her teeth. "No way."  
  
Minako smiled hopefully. "You could always show off Michael.   
I do my homework-- the guy makes more a year than Ami, and   
she's a neuro-surgeon! And even though that little blue-haired girl said you two were together a lot, I didn't actually thing... well, anyway, from what she said... he's rich... And he's polite, and handsome, and--"  
  
"Mine." Usagi finished with a slight smile. "Oh, Minako,   
he's so sweet. I never felt this way for Mamoru. With him,   
it was always trying to get him to even admit he had   
feelings! Mikey's so different."  
  
"Mikey?"  
  
"He hates it. I like it. So he's Mikey."  
  
"Awwww. What does he call you?"  
  
"Usa. Sometimes love. Mostly luvvie, though. Although..."  
  
~'~  
  
  
Micheal returned some hours later, opened and shutting the   
door quietly, like he always did. He heard laughter from the   
living room and followed it. He found his girlfriend talking   
to Minako like old friends, giggling and gossiping. It took   
him a few secnods to realize that they were speaking in   
fluent Japanese, and then a few more to make sense of any of   
it.  
  
"I can't believe it! Did she attack him?" Usagi leaned   
forward, looking more open and happy than he had ever seen   
her.   
  
Minako grinned mischeivously. "Did she! I thought the poor   
man was going to die! You know how protective she can be of   
Michiru. And when he actually said that to her..."  
  
Usagi nodded. "I remember. What did she do?"  
  
"Well, she took the space sword out and had it up to his   
neck so fast I didn't even see. Michiru was horrified, but   
didn't say anything. And then Haruka told him exactly what   
she would do if she ever caught him near her girlfriend   
again."  
  
"Which was?"  
  
Minako leaned close to Usagi and whispered something that   
made the ice queen go bright purplish-red.   
  
"Oh, she didn't!"  
  
"She did! And the poor guy high-tailed it out of there so   
fast, you wouldn't believe! Of course, you couldn't exaqctly   
blame him...."  
  
"I wouldn't doubt Haruka would do it. Even after winning a   
race..."  
  
"Did you know she's about to win the championship?"  
  
"Yeah! Mikey and I have watched all her races. When we get   
to Tokyo, I think I'll introduce them... once I convince   
Haruka not to kill him, that is."  
  
"Oh, I don't really think you'll have to worry. Mamoru and   
she haven't gotten along since you left. She's absolutely   
pissed at him."  
  
"Haruka Ten'oh?" Michael couldn't help it. Minako jumped,   
startled, but Usagi turned and smiled a little guiltily.   
"You know Haruka Ten'oh? And you never told me?" He clutched   
and his heart, mocking pain. "My heart! How you have wounded   
me!"  
  
She rolled her eyes at his antics "Yeah, I know Haruka. How   
long have you been standing there?" She asked curiously.  
  
"Long enough to discover you know the greatest driver that   
has ever touched a Formula-1 track! And that you never told   
me! Usagi, the love of my life, how could you withhold such-- such--"  
  
Even Minako had to smile as he fell to his knees   
dramatically. Turning to Usagi, she asked, "Where'd you get   
him, anyway? A theatre?"  
  
Usagi grinned. "How'd you guess?" Turning to Michael, she   
grinned, "Honey, stop it. You're scaring the company. Good   
puppie. Now, I was going to introduce you when we got to   
Tokyo!"  
  
Michael stopped in mid lament. He peeked one blue eyes open.   
"Swear?"  
  
Usagi nodded, solemn. "Swear."  
  
He jumped up, renewed. "One more thing though." He s  
stated thoughtfully. "Now that I thnik about it, you've always   
called Haruka-sama a her. And you both were. Why?"  
  
Minako looked away, her ears burning as Usagi blushed.   
"Haruka *is* a her, Mikey. Believe me, we found out the hard   
way."  
  
Minako giggled. "Definatly a she."  
  
Michael let out a whoop. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I TOLD THEM   
ALL! I TOLD THEM! And now who's dancing?" He began a bad   
dance routine to celebrate. Usagi covered her face with her   
hands.  
  
"Americans." She muttered.  
  
Minako looked at her curiously. "Why's he so happy?"  
  
Usagi groaned. "He made a bet with some of his friends that   
Haruka was actually female. I don't know how he figured it   
out."  
  
Minako raised an eyebrow as she watched him dance. "Is he   
going to hit on Michiru?"  
  
Usagi looked at him as well. "He'd better not. MICHAEL!   
YOU'RE GOING TO HIT MY--"   
  
There was a tinkling of shattering glass and Usagi groaned   
again and Minako collapsed in laughter.   
  
"-- mirror." Usagi finished, albeit a bit late. "Are you   
okay?"  
  
~'~ 


	2. This part IS NOT sap.

LOver's Last Breath  
Chapter 2  
THIS PART IS NOT SAP!  
~'~  
  
The title of the chapter explains all I need to say.  
  
  
  
Usagi yawned and turned over, burying her head in the soft   
pillow. Instantly, instinctively, she threw an arm out to   
see if Michael was there. She sighed as her arm hit   
mattress.  
  
Opening one sleepy blue-gray eye, she peered at the blurry   
numbers on the clock. Almost ten... Michael was already   
gone. Both the chill of his side of the bed and the time   
told her that he'd been gone for a while. She sat up and   
rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.   
  
The flight to Tokyo had been thankfully eventless. Minako   
had chattered the entire way, and after a long, happy   
reunion with the outer senshi, who'd invited them (or   
ordered them, however one sees it) to stay with them in   
their mansion.  
  
Remembering this important fact, Usagi took a few sleepy   
minutes to find a long shirt to slip on, and wrapped a   
chenile bathrobe around her before stumbling down two   
flights of shag-carpeted stairs into a large, bright kitchen   
where Haruka was sitting at the table, drinking coffee   
straight out of the pot, dressed only in a white tanktop and   
a pair of black boxers as she stared into space.  
  
Michiru glared disdainfully at her lover, sipping her tea   
daintily, dressed for the day already in a neat, navy-blue   
blazer and skirt. Setsuna, wearing a dark red bathrobe,   
perched upon a counter drinking coffee out of a huge cup.   
Hotaru was missing-- oh, yes. School, Usagi remembered.  
  
She searched the cabinets for a mug and pried a growling   
Haruka away from the pot long enough to pour herself enough   
to wake her up. The wonderful pot was immediatly snatched   
back by the taller woman, who hugged it to her breast, then   
yelped as the heat seared through her clothing. She glared   
at it for a moment, and then, almost defiantly, began   
chugging the black stuff.  
  
Usagi made a disgusted snort. "How can you drink that?" She   
wondered, adding spoonfuls of sugar and cream to her own,   
nursing it carefully until it was more of a caffeinated malt   
rather than a bitter drink.  
  
"Ungh." Haruka grunted, taking another big gulp.  
Michiru rolled her eyes. "It's routine, Usagi. She does this   
*every* morning."  
  
Setsuna made a noise that sounded suspiciously like she was   
trying to hide a laugh. "Well, Michiru, some of us aren't as   
lucky to be able to wake up after a night of no sleep   
without the aid of coffee."  
  
Usagi raised her mug towards Setsuna, grinning   
mischeivously. "Amen to that!"  
  
Michiru looked at her watch, and stood up. She rinsed her   
teacup out in the sink and watched her lover demolish a few   
more cupfuls of coffee.   
  
"I need to go, love." She said, giving the half-asleep   
blonde a kiss on the cheek. Haruka nodded vaguely as Michiru   
left.  
  
"Give her until the pot's empty, and then she'll be awake   
and grumbling about how Michiru left without kissing her   
goodbye. And after that, she'll be playing twenty questions   
with you." Setsuna swung her legs around to face Usagi   
better. "I'm sticking around for that. I want to know what   
you've been up to these past few years, Usagi. And just   
where you picked up that man."  
  
Usagi raised her eyebrows. "What? Don't you like him?"  
  
Setsuna looked, unexpectedly, like the young woman she was,   
physically, for a few seconds. "Are you kidding? He's   
sensitive, he's sweet, he's handsome. He was up and four   
a.m., *whistling* **cheerfully**," she emphasized, shooting   
a look at the racer guzzling coffee, "and asked me how I   
was. He even made me coffee before Haruka woke up. And then   
he left with the sunrise." She looked thoughtful. "It was   
romantic, in a way."  
  
Usagi smiled dreamily. "I know. If he knew his way around   
the kitchen and wasn't petrified of you four, he would have   
made breakfast and woke me up." She sighed. "And the man   
knows how to cook." She added, as Haruka finished off the   
pot of coffee happily and turned to glare at Setsuna.  
  
"Michiru *did* kiss me goodbye." She muttered, stomping over   
to the sink and splashing cold water in her face before   
returning to her seat. "I'm not completely brain-dead."  
Setsuna just rolled her eyes and finished off her own cup.  
  
Haruka spun on Usagi. "When are you going to talk to the   
inners?" She fired.  
  
Usagi shrugged. "Whenever I think I can do it without   
bloodshed."  
  
"What about Mamoru?"  
  
"What about him?" Usagi retorted, daring Haruka to venture   
further into that subject. "I'm happier with Mikey than I   
ever was with him. Mikey is everything I could ever want.   
And Mamoru can just marry what's-her-face and live pseudo-ly   
happily ever after."  
  
Haruka grinned. "Good. How long have you and blondie been   
together?"  
  
"Better part of my "absense"." Usagi laughed quietly. "And   
you're going to be nice to him."  
  
Setsuna chortled. "She'll love him."  
  
Haruka stared at her. "Why?"  
  
"He's only your biggest fan. He knows more about Ten'oh   
Haruka than *you* do, Haruka. It's only a matter of time   
before he figures out you're Uranus. But you didn't hear   
that from me."  
  
Usagi fought to keep a straight face. "Setsuna, one would   
think that, not only are you gaining a sense of humor,   
you're actually relaxed."  
  
Setsuna shrugged. "I'm on vacation." She pulled a small,   
thick book out of her bathrobe and tossed it at Usagi. " Rule #943, Page 693, paragraph 87, line 12. While on vacation, I can say whatever I damn please. And do whatever I damn please. And   
be whatever I damn please. Etc."  
  
Usagi just shook her head, but before she could give it   
back, Haruka had snatched it and was leafing through the   
pages like a madman.  
  
"Hey!" She shouted, stopping at one particular page. "It   
says here that you don't have to use currency!" She   
eyeballed the plutonite. "Is *that* how you managed to get   
that huge hottub without killing one of our accounts?"  
  
Setsuna retreived her rulebook, smiling mysteriously.   
"Maybe."  
  
Usagi rolled her eyes and set her cup down as she brushed   
her hair out of her eyes.  
  
Haruka noticed. "That reminds me. What's with your hair?   
It's short and brown."  
  
Usagi gaped at her. "Haruka, it reaches past my ass. You   
call that short?"  
  
Setsuna grinned as the blonde opened her mouth to retort. "I   
think that our beloved friend means that it's about two feet   
shorter than the last time we saw you."  
  
Usagi shrugged. "That was six years ago. I'm twenty-four   
now. You guys would have been looking for a girl with   
extraordinarily long, blonde hair. So I cut it and dyed it.   
It worked well enough until one of Minako's friends started   
talking about me to her." She frowned. "What a small world   
it is."  
  
Haruka grinned. "I was thinking the same thing last night.   
Since when do you curse, Koneko? And exactly why does he   
call you his "little sexy vixen"? And I'd like to know the   
story behind "at least, pant pant, you're not trying out   
your Arnold impressionations again, love bunny". Do indulge   
us."  
  
Usagi's face was a mottled red, and she sputtered a few   
uninteligible phrases. Finally, something was   
acknowledgable: "Well what about you, "my hot, sweet honey   
love"?" Her face was still red, but she managed a grin. "We   
weren't the only ones being loud."  
  
Setsuna groaned, and reached for the teapot. "Gods, don't   
remind me. I've been talking about soundproofing the walls   
for years, but now that you're here, I'm calling the guys   
today. Kakanura-san owes me a favor, anyway."  
  
Usagi glared at Haruka. "Well, if someone hadn't forced us   
into her car at knifepoint, we wouldn't be keeping the   
lesserly lucky people awake, now would we?" She hinted   
pointedly.  
  
Haruka shrugged. "Lost you once, Koneko. Die before it   
happens again." She summed it up simply.  
  
Usagi sighed, and stretched her arms. "Well, I need to shop.   
Michael has a benefit party-thing tomorrow night and it's   
formal, and I don't like anything I have."  
  
Haruka's eyebrows raised. "What exactly does Love Bunny do,   
Little Sexy Vixen?" She deadpanned.   
  
Flustered, Usagi stammered out her reply. "He's a "political   
debater", and he's working at the embassasy." She grinned a little. "He loves it. And the hours aren't half   
bad, and the only times he comes home in a bad mood is   
never." Her eyes glazed over, and she stared into her own   
dream. "He's so good at what he does, and he loves it so   
much when he comes home to another failed cooking attempt   
and chinese take-out..."   
  
Setsuna looked at Usagi curiously. "You really love him,   
don't you?" Her voice was almost wistful.  
  
Usagi jerked out of revere and looked at Setsuna dreamily.   
"Oh, believe it."  
  
Haruka shrugged. She thought of Michiru and grinned   
foolishly. "Yeah. I know how you feel."  
  
Usagi jumped to her feet. "Haruka, let me get dressed, and   
then you're taking me to the mall. You get dressed too." She   
dashed up the stairs, laughing at some joke her mind had   
cooked up.  
  
Haruka looked at Setsuna, who stared after the faux-brunette   
woman. "Can she love blondie?" She asked, concerned.  
  
Setsuna shrugged. "If she loves him, that's all that   
matters. And Mamoru is still dating Keiko, so it's easier   
this way." A smile graced her features. "And Michael does   
love her. You can tell."  
  
Haruka nodded, standing up. "I know."  
  
~'~  
  
  
"What about this one?" Usagi danced out the dressing room,   
the long, pink skirt flaring up around her. The saleswoman   
thought it looked fantastic, but Haruka made a face at the   
grandmotherly neckline and the color.  
  
"Too conservative, Koneko." She responded. "Try the blue one."  
  
Usagi pouted, and stomped mockingly back into the stall.   
Haruka leaned back int her chair, grinning.   
  
"Your girlfriend is very pretty, sir. What's the occasion?"   
The woman asked, observing the relaxed way Haruka sat, not   
flinching at the extravagant princetags on the gowns.  
  
Haruka did her best not to smirk. "She isn't my girlfriend,   
but she's going to a formal benefit with her--" She looked   
back at the stall. "Has he popped the question yet, Koneko-  
chan?"  
  
Usagi snorted. "Not yet. I think he will tomorrow night,   
though. He promised me a surprise."  
  
Haruka continued her reply. "-- her boyfriend. And she needs a dress."  
  
"But we're just friends!" Usagi called back through the   
door. "She's already got a girlfriend. A very elegant,   
beautiful girlfriend that would kill me if I made a go for   
her "hot, sweet, honey love". Ha ha."  
  
"The same to you, little sexy vixen." Haruka retorted,   
deadpan. The lady riased an eyebrow, but made no further   
attempt to disect the reasoning because the door to the   
dressed room swung open and Usagi sauntered out, grinning.  
  
Haruka lost her composure for a moment. Somewhere in the   
background, a shattering of glass and a couple of catcalls   
were heard. And finally, the racer was able to choke out one   
weak question. "What happened to the blue?"  
  
The dress was red and slinky, with no back and straped about   
half an inch thick. The neckline dropped dangerously low,   
showing off more cleavage than Usagi wouldhave normally   
dared to show. The hem of the dress slanted across her legs,   
one end brushing the back of her shins while the other side   
rode mid-thigh.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"This is old, but it was made for you." The woman breathed.   
  
Usagi looked to Haruka, who was straightening her tie   
meticulously. "Well?"  
  
Haruka nodded. "We're getting it."  
  
Usagi clapped her hands happily. "Goodie!" She dashed back   
inside the stall and slammed the door.  
  
The woman looked down at Haruka, who was busy muttering into her hands that Michiru was going to kill her, and couldn't   
resist a smirk. "Not your girlfriend, eh?"  
  
Haruka wasted no time paying for the purchase, and bags on   
arm, they left the shop.  
  
"Ooo!" Usagi spotted the familiar food court, and couldn't   
help but squeal. She looked up at Haruka, pleadingly. "Can   
we get something to eat? Pleeease?" She begged, pulling on   
the taller woman's arm.  
  
Haruka grinned. She was hungry anyway, and it would be a day   
that never came when she could ever say no to that look,   
whether it was on Usagi's face, or Michiru's, or Hotaru's.  
  
God, she was such a softy.  
  
She allowed herself to be uncerimoniously dragged into the   
semi-cricle of resturants, happy because Usagi was back. It   
was nice to see that some things never changed.  
  
A few minutes later, they were sitting at a table, Haruka   
eating noddles while Usagi sat with a huge pile of french   
fries and hamburgers in front of her. At Haruka's strange   
glance, she'd gotten defensive.  
  
"You don't just spend six years on the north american   
continent without liking fries, alright!" She proceded to   
drown the diced potatos with soy sauce-- which earned her   
many odd looks-- and devour the pile.  
  
She was starting on her third hamburger when she suddenly   
froze, the greasy sandwich half-way to her mouth. Her big,   
blue eyes were wide with shock at the sight of something   
behind Haruka.  
  
Haruka twisted around to see, and her eyes narrowed.  
  
Mamoru, accompanied by Keiko, Minako, Rei, Makoto, and Ami,   
were walking towards the food court, laughing and talking   
like they were very old friends.   
  
"How dare they!" Usagi gasped. "Those... those..." She   
proceded to curse in English, and Haruka was happy that at   
least some of the people around them couldn't understand   
what she was saying.   
  
Ami, who was carrying several bags from a book store,   
spotted Haruka. She tugged on Makoto's sleeve, pointing, and   
Haruka turned around with a groan.   
  
"Sorry, Koneko." She mumbled.  
  
Usagi shrugged. "I'm your neice, Rebecca, from the states. I   
don't understand much Japanese, and I'm only seventeen." She   
took an angry bite from her hamburger, muttering something   
most likely foul under her breath.  
  
"But my only brother is twelve--" Haruka began to protest,   
but cut herself off.  
  
"Hey, Haruka-san!" Minako had raced ahead and reached them   
first. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She whispered hurriedly, looking   
over her shoulder. "They insisted on saying hi."  
  
Usagi smiled at her old friend. "It's alright."  
  
"Haruka-san, have you been hiding under a rock?" Makoto   
teased, coming up behind Minako. "Ah, have you been cheating   
on Michiru?"  
  
Haruka smiled her usual self-assured smile. She had known   
Usagi on sight-- and Minako should know well enough to play   
along-- but still... "Mako-chan, I would like you to meet my   
neice, from the USA, Rebecca." She switched to English.   
"Rebecca, this is Makoto, and Minako. And Ami--" She   
gestured to each. "--Rei, Mamoru, and Keiko."  
  
Usagi gritted her teeth and looked up, straight into   
Mamoru's eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Are you   
friends of Ruka's?" Her Japanese was heavily accented and   
she stumbled on a few words, for good measure. "I apologize,   
if my Japanese isn't very good."  
  
"It's alright." Mamoru encouraged smoothly in English. Usagi found   
herself relaxing as she thought of Michael. She was actually   
able to smile back. "Are you enjoying Japan?"  
  
"Oh, yes!" Usagi exclaimed. "It's very beautiful here."  
  
"You know," Rei spoke up. "You look so familar. I swear I've   
seen you somewhere before."  
  
"Yes, I was just thinking the same thing." Ami agreed.  
  
Keiko seemed to be thinking too, and with a slight giggle,   
she tugged at Mamoru's arm. "Hey, Mamo-chan, she looks like   
that old friend of your's... I think her name was Usagi. In   
the face, I mean. Usagi was blonde, wasn't she?"  
  
Usagi cursed mentally.  
  
Minako saved her. "Yeah, she kinda does, doesn't she? Maybe   
if her hair was longer. But the eyes are wrong, and Usagi   
was shorter."  
  
Haruka thought she might die of laughter later, but nodded   
seriously. "I hadn't noticed."  
  
It seemed everything was safe, until a familar head of curly   
blonde hair began running towards the small group. "Bunny!"   
The tall man called.   
  
Usagi almost fell out of her chair, but quickly covered.   
Before Michael could yell her real name, she jumped to her   
feet, startling Ami, who stood closest to her, and raced to   
Michael who caught her up in his arms.  
  
"How'd you know I was here?" She asked, smiling.   
  
"Setsuna." He replied. "She said that you were here, so I   
decided to surprise you." He looked over his lover's   
shoulder at Haruka, who was staring at him like he'd grown   
another head, and Minako, who was doing her best to   
inconspiculously hide behind Makoto.  
  
"Are they friends of your's?" He asked her quietly, feeling   
how tense she was.  
  
Usagi nodded, and leaned up to whisper furiously in his ear.   
"Call me Becca around them, love. And you don't know Minako,   
alright? I'll explain later." She raised an eyebrow. "Time   
to prove you're the actor you claim to be, foxy."  
  
He looked at her oddly, but shrugged. "If you say so,   
Becca!" He said merrily, raising his voice purposely.  
  
Minako fell over in relief, and Haruka looked longling at   
her chilling noodles.  
  
"Mikey," Usagi explained, in perfect English. "These are friends   
of Haruka's." SHe led him over, and noted with satisfaction   
that Michael was taller than all of them. "This is Minako,   
and Mako... Makoto, and Rei, and Ami. And this is Mamoru and   
uhm... Keiko." She giggled, seemingly pleased at getting   
them all right.  
  
"Minna, this is Michael Stanton. Rebecca's boyfriend. They're   
staying with us until they find their own house."  
  
Usagi rolled her eyes, knowing very well that her next house   
would be a crystal palace.   
  
"Michael Stanton!" Mamoru exclaimed. "I know you. You're the new boy at the Embassy! Chiba Mamoru."   
  
"Chiba-san!" Michael laughed, and shook the other man's hand. "I thought you looked familiar. Yes, I remember. You're the head of the hospital." He looked around. "What an amazing coinsidence."  
  
Usagi stared up at Michael. "You know him?" She asked, without thinking, in her native language.  
  
Michael nodded. "Bunny, this is the man I was telling you about the other day. He's the one backing the new program that will help decide over the new mecdical policy."  
  
Usagi stared blankly at her old fiancee, stunned. She remember Michael telling her all about it, but she'd never made the connection. "Oh." She whispered softly.  
  
Keiko didn't like the bewildered way Haruka's neice was glaring at her boyfriend. "Mamo-chan, shouldn't we be going? I thought we had that meeting to go to." She mentioned it like there was a secret behind it.  
  
Rei smacked her forehead. "Oh, yeah! Seiya and Yaten will start another fight if we're late. The temple barely made it out."   
  
Ami smiled at Haruka. "The outers are free to come." She invited.  
  
Usagi was outright gaping. They had told Keiko about the senshi! Yes, that was the only thing, the way she was so friendly with all of them and even Haruka seemed to know everything. It was then the necklace that hung around Keiko's neck caught her eye.  
  
She made a choked kind of gasp. Her broach! Her transformation broach hung around Keiko's neck like some sort of perverted trophy. Usagi remembered throwing it at Mamoru, but she had never, *ever*, thought that they would replace her.  
  
Haruka followed her gaze and closed her eyes, waiting for the explosion.  
  
It never came.  
  
Confused, she opened her eyes to see Usagi, glaring at Keiko like she was the daughter of Queen Beryl. In two short, measured steps, she crossed the distance between them and snatched the broach with a swipe of her hand almost too quick to see.  
  
Keiko cried out as the fine, golden chain bit into the back of her neck before breaking.  
  
"How dare you." She hissed, startling all except Minako and Haruka. "How daye you fucking wear this, you little bimbo."  
  
"Hey!" Rei shouted, beating Mamoru to it. "Give that back! It isn't your's."  
  
"Oh, shut up, Rei." Usagi snapped at her former best friend. "Go stare at your fire and stay out of this. It *is* mine." Her narrowed eyes caught Makoto quietly reaching into her pcoket for her henshin wand, and rolled her eyes. "Michael, let's go. We'll leave them to their business."  
  
"Usa..." He began, but stopped at the furious tone she used. He'd never seen her like this. "Alright." She started to lead him away, but was stopped by Mamoru.  
  
"I can't let you take that." He threatened darkly.  
  
"You won't touch her." Haruka told him, cracking her knuckles. "We both know that broach as much belongs to Keiko as it does to you. She'll take it if she wants to."  
  
Minako looked at the floor and said nothing.  
  
"But..." Ami was speechless, but Makoto wasn't.  
  
"You're full of shit, Haruka! She can't have Usagi's broach! I don't care if she's your neice, your sister, or your mother! I won't have it!"  
  
Michael started, and turned at the violence in Makoto's voice.  
  
Haruka smirked. "And Keiko shall have it?" She challenged.  
  
Keiko scowled. "Just because you don't like me doesn't mean you can give away something as powerful as that, Ten'oh-san. I know how to use it. She doesn't."  
  
Usagi pulled away from Michael, her blood boiling at temperatures pfreviously thought unobtainable by large stars. She turned on Keiko, blood rising to her face. She held the circular bauble up, and waved it tauntingly.   
  
"Oh, you want the broach, do you?" She cooed, her voice too sweet and her eyes dripping venom. "You know how to *use* it? And I don't, do I?" Her face went bitter and her voice dripped toxin. "I known more about this broach than you can ever hope to even dream of. How did you trick it, Keiko? How did you make it think *you* were *Usagi*?"  
  
"Bunny, what's going on?" Michael asked, as Ami, Rei, and Makoto stepped back, concealing one hands behind their backs. He was nervous at the way Mamoru was glaring at his lover furiously, and how Keiko resembled a spitting cat.  
  
"I did not trick it!" Keiko shrieked. "Mamo-chan gave me that broach when the other Sailormoon ditched them! They needed someone to use it, to win their fights for them when she would not! Luna gave it to me!"  
  
Usagi took a better look at the broach in her hand, and laughed. "Oh, my god. You only have the training broach. What am I so pissed about? Of course, you probably can jsut barely use that!" She nearly doubled over.   
  
Aburptly, she stood straight, making them all jump.  
  
"Don't do it." Haruka pleaded mentally. Minako just smiled. If only Luna and Artemis were here to see this.  
  
"Do you want to see power, Keiko?" Usagi purred. "Do you want to feel true power?" She smiled darkly, and gripped the locket tight, making it glow softly as it changed into a more familuar heart shape with wings. "I will show you power. I will show you how to use the broach."  
  
"Usa-chan," Michael stepped back, into Haruka.   
  
"Just watch." Haruka directed. "This is what she's been hiding from you, Michael. Your girlfriend is a very wonderful person."  
  
"Usa--" Ami was closest to Michael, and sudden realization crashed upon her. "Oh my god." Her henshin stick clattered to the floor, and her eyes threaned to roll back into her head as the blood drained from her face.   
  
Makoto caught Ami as Usagi thrust the now heart-shaped broach into the air, and three bursts of light followed.   
  
Her eyes were fixed on Keiko, and as the last light vanished, a streak of bluish silver lightning shot out from the broach and struck the redhead full in the chest, throwing her back into the wall, a good twenty feet away. Mamoru ran for his girlfriend while Rei's jaw fell.  
  
"Let's go." Haruka ordered. "Now." Before Mamoru gets his bearings on straight, she added mentally. SHe had seen the earth prince when he was enraged and even though she knew that she could take him if she needed to, she doubted anyone else would appreciate a dead Mamoru very much.  
  
Minako grabbed Michael by the arm and dragged him after Usagi and Haruka. Ami pushed away from Makoto and took a couple of desperate steps after them, but gave up to look at Mamoru, who was helping a shocked Keiko to her feet.   
  
She hugged Makoto, unconcerned about the horde of curious onlookers gathering. "Did you see?" She shouted excitedly. "it was her! I don't believe it!" She hugged Rei, hugged Makoto again, and then dashed off in another direction, muttering something about Luna.  
  
"What the fuck just happened?" Makoto was bewildered and angry. Mamoru helped Keiko back over to the much smaller group, glaring daggers as Keiko limped.  
  
"Minako left with them?" His voice was eerily calm.  
  
Rei nodded, still speechless.  
  
"Ami ran off." Makoto supplied. "I think she lost it, finally."  
  
Mamoru glared in the direction that the four had left in. "I think we need to hold a meeting. A mandatory meeting. I even want the starlights there."  
  
Makoto nodded, reaching for her communicator as Mamoru led Keiko off. 


	3. Stalkers, Hair Dye, and Ghosts--- OH MY!

Lover's Last Breath  
black beyond  
black_beyond@hotmail.com  
Mamoru the Stalker  
~'~  
  
Ah. This bit's shorter, but it's not very sappy! Oy, there's a bit of cursing   
in here... warning. But she's throwing a tantrum... everyone curses during a  
tantrum... yes?  
  
Ai, nevermind.  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
"Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid! What came over me? Why did you let me do that? They're going to be after my blood! Minako! Haruka! You idiots! I'm a moron-- how the fuck could you let me--"   
  
"Usagi, please." Michael tried to calm her.  
  
"I don't see the fuss." Everyone quieted at Hotaru's smirking comment. She shrugged at the stares. "Well, I don't."  
  
"How?" Minako asked.  
  
Hotaru smiledsmirked. "Well, it had to happen someday, Usagi. And Michael has taken it all very well. See? He likes the idea you're gonna kick ass and rule the world."  
  
Michael nodded enthusiastically. "I always knew you'd go places, Love Bunny."  
  
Hotaru held back a giggle. "And besides, it's not like you could hide forever. They've called a senshi meeting, and I want Tsukino Usagi to show her face to Tokyo again, Usagi." Hotaru said it meaningfully. "Get some two-day blonde hairdye and we'll visit your mom, have a happy reunion, and dig up some of your clothes. Give the senshi something to have a heart attack over."  
  
Setsuna clapped, delighted. "Yes! And Seiya will be there, Usagi. Makoto said EVERYONE."  
  
Haruka chuckled. "This is going to be fun."  
  
Usagi shook her head. "Nope."  
  
"No to what?" Minako asked, frowning. "I like it."  
  
Michael smiled. "So do I, Usa. And if this Keiko-chick doesn't even know who you are, then you should probably prove to her that my Usako-love does not DITCH people." He stood up, scowling protectively. "My Usako-love is loving and caring and gorgeous and nice and kind and elegant and--"  
  
"God, cut it out already, before I gag." Minako stuck a finger down her throat.   
  
"I think it's sweet." Michiru sighed, scotting closer to Haruka. "It would be nice, HINT HINT, if someone would compliment me more often. HARUKA." She commented. Haruka reached up and loosed her collar, glaring at Michael, who wasn't paying attention, as he and Usagi had started a game of tonsil hockey.  
  
"Michael's worse than Mamoru." Minako groaned. "At least he refused to touch her when we were around."  
  
Setsuna snorted. "Ha. You think it's bad *now*? Just you wait." She shuddered at some mental image. "It gets worse. It gets much, much worse."  
  
Michiru looked at her curiously. "Revealing the future again, dear Setsuna?"  
  
Haruka groaned. "Oh, please. Don't get her started, I beg of you. It's in some book-- she can say whatever she wants. Let her. Let her talk. Just don't make her pull out that book."  
  
Usagi broke apart from Michael for a second. "Why? It wasn't that bad, Haruka."  
  
Setsuna cackled to herself while Haruka made a face.   
  
"Yeah, well you didn't get to see it. I caught a glimpse of a few others-- involving food stuffs and live rodents and where you may or may not shove them in case of extreme anger."  
  
Setsuna thought for a moment, and then grinned. "You mean Rule #823, page 680. Yeah, it was created a few millennia back when a sailorpluto shoved a--"  
  
"That's enough, thank you." Michiru interrupted. "Quite enough. We get the picture."  
  
"Wait, I want to hea--" Michael started, but Usagi silenced him with a long, steamy kiss that continued on for some while.  
  
"Anyway..." Setsuna wore a catlike smile. "It's a very lovely story.   
  
"Yeah, I *bet* it is." Haruka muttered. She glanced over at Michael and Usagi and shuddered. "Get a room, you two." She barked.  
  
"This is a room." Michael muttered, against Usagi's lips.  
  
"Two points!" Minako tried not to look too happy as Haruka stomped out of the room. Michiru followed with a half-grin, laughing over it all.   
  
"That reminds me." Setsuna smiled mysteriously, once the infamous duo had left to go upstairs. "I need to give you your sword, Michael."  
  
"Sword?" Usagi jerked away from her koibito. "He's not a fighter. He signs little papers for a living. He doesn't know how to handle a sword."  
  
"Oh." Setsuna spoke slyly. "So all those fencing lessons when he was little just happened for nothing. Alright. No sword. No protector. Hell, fine with me. Makes my life easier."  
  
Usagi rolled her eyes.  
  
"Com'on, Usagi." Hotaru commanded, standing up and tugging on Usagi's wrist. "Let's go find some bleach. Hey, hey! You can dye it back, I swear. And we'll need to either borrow MInako's clothing--"  
  
"Hey! Use me, will ya!"  
  
"Or visit your parents. It's up to you, *Love Bunny*." Hotaru jumped away as Usagi swatted at her.   
  
"I've got something that my grandmother brought for me a couple of years ago that I never wore." Minako suggested helpfully. "It's just perfect if you're going to go playing Old Usagi."  
  
Michael spoke up. "I want to see this." At Minako's odd look, he explained. "I always thought Usa would look good as a blonde, so I want to see her as one." he shrugged. "And I want to hear more about your past."  
  
Usagi sighed, and alowed herself to be led out of the house by MInako and Hotaru, Michael tailing behind.   
  
"Wait." She hissed, a familiar green jacket catching her eye. Hotaru froze, and Minako took another step before stopping. Michael crashed into Usagi, but didn't knock her over.   
  
"He's spying on us." A rare anger flared up in Hotaru's voice. "Keiko's with him-- look behind that corner. You can see her hair."  
  
Usagi shrugged, her eyes locked directly onto Mamoru's cold, blue ones. "I don't care." She denounced, loud and clear. "They may do as they wish. Let us do the same."  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
Mamoru's blood boiled. Not only had she spotted him right off, but had directly challenged his acts as deceitful. He had no options-- he could either attack her, which would be dishonorable in any right, or he could walk away.  
  
He shot a look at his girlfriend, and saw her fists were clenched. No, he couldn't walk away. He glanced back at the group to see they were piling into Hotaru's jeep and, screeching tires, heading in down the street in their direction.  
  
Squealing to a stop, Hotaru grinned as the strange brunette leaned out of the window.   
  
"Love to see some things never change, Mamo-chan!" She blew him a kiss and then Hotaru slammed on the gas and they were out of sight. There was something familiar about the way she'd called to him, the flash of her gray-blue eyes or the light lilt in her sultry voice--  
  
"Mamo-chan..." Keiko brought him back to the real world. "Your motorcycle is over there. let's go!" She tugged at his arm.  
  
He nodded, remembering the broach. He followed Hotaru, always staying a block and then some behind. He knew they knew he was there, but it made him feel better if Hotaru wasn't in glaive-throwing distance.  
  
The jeep had stopped once, at a small pharmacy. Only the brunette had got out, and she'd returned so quickly that by the time Mamoru got close enough to realize that the jeep had stopped it was off again, twisting down a series of streets that were very familiar.  
  
"They're going to Minako's!" Keiko gasped, hugging him tighter. He realized as he rounded the corner on his beloved bike that she was right. The black jeep had screeched to a stop-- why Michiru let Haruka teach Hotaru how to drive he never figured out-- and everyone rushed inside, a blur of hair and feet.  
  
He found a better hiding place than before, warned Keiko to keep her helmet on in case of the need of a quick exit, and waited. And waited.  
  
He checked his watch. Keiko had been good about not complaining, but it had been an hour.  
  
"Good god, girl!" Minako's loud voice hit his ears suddenly, making him jump. "I swear, you're just creepy. Michael, tell me that's not creepy."  
  
The man's voice, Michael Whatshisface: "I think it's sexy."  
  
Hotaru was the first person he saw as she left the house. "Yeah. Haruka would like it, anyway. Minako's right, though. It's creepy."  
  
The brunette came out next, calling a goodbye to Minako's parents. She now wore a light pink sundress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was pushed up under a baseball cap that had been pulled down low over her face. A whisp of what might have been blonde hair peeked out, but he dismissed it as the glare of sunset.  
  
Michael followed. "I think it's adorable. You should have told me, bunny. You could have snagged that goddess part at the Little Sun Threatre if you didn't mind changing a bit."  
  
She snorted. "I will not play Aphrodite." She proclaimed loudly. "Minako does that job well enough. Besides..." Her eyes darted to his hiding place, and he cursed softly. "I think I liked playing bitch roles."  
  
Michael grinned. "And I liked you in them." He looked back at Minako, who shut the door behind her. "You may not believe me, I don't know, but my love bunny is a terrific actress. Sometimes she even forgot to get out of character when she came home..."  
  
The brunette cackled softly.   
  
"Yeah. I remember. Heh heh. We had fun."  
  
Hotaru shook her head sadly, and Minako pushed michael into the back of the jeep. "That's enough of that." She shuddered.   
  
"Do you know her, Mamoru?" Keiko asked softly, as the brunette climbed in after Michael. "She seems to know the rest of the senshi very well."  
  
Mamoru shook his head. "She's familiar, but I don't know her. I don't think Haruka told her anything-- Haruka's not exceptionally close to her family."  
  
"Hey, let's go see Motoki!" the brunette called out cheerfully, as Minako jumped in and Hotaru walked around to the driver's side. "I haven't seen him for ages!"  
  
"Oh, you're going to love it!" Minako shrieked happily, as Hotaru revved the engine. "He finally married Rika, and wow, he's gotten SO handsome. And I think Rika's pregnant, but no word on that yet. Wow, he's going to get a real shock when he sees you-- especially you with Michael and not with... well, you know."  
  
She might have said more, but Hotaru nearly killed two pedestrians as she hauled ass out of there. Mamoru shook his head before leaving his own set of black marks on the pavement, Keiko giggling as she clung to his waist.  
  
"Hey, Mamo-chan!" She called, after they'd gone a few kilometers. "It's almost time for the senshi meeting. Lucky we're on the right road..." She trailed off.   
  
"They're taking her to the senshi meeting." She stated bluntly.  
  
Mamoru shrugged. "Maybe not." But he knew otherwise.   
  
"Mamoru, do you think she's working for the dark kingdom?" Keiko asked anxiously. "Maybe she brainwashed the outers and she does have the broach.."  
  
Mamoru shook her head, and pulled to a stop in front of the temple. The jeep had not stopped, to his confusion. He pulled off his helmet and turned to look at her as he helped her off. "She turned the broach into a higher power level, and it allowed her to use its power. She has to be good, pure good, to do that."  
  
Keiko snorted. "She doesn't see very pure to me."  
  
Mamoru shrugged.  
  
~'~  
  
  
Hehehehe.... oh, I'm having fun, can't you tell? I always wanted to do a story like this.  
It's more fun than you'd likely think. It's quite delightful to torture Mamoru in this  
way... but don't worry. I'm not going tot be so very mean to him much longer...  
  
He's about to get the shock of his life... hehehehe...  
  
~'~ 


	4. Seeing Ghosts

Lover's Last Breath  
black beyond  
black_beyond@hotmail.co,  
Seeing Ghosts  
~'~  
  
hehehehehe, sorry it took so long, but this piece was a evil thing  
to write. But I think you'll like it...  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
Twenty minutes into the meeting, and Hotaru and Minako still had not shown. The starlights had made an appearence, and were currently engaged in flirting with the other inner senshi. Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna were taking turns glaring at Mamoru and Keiko as they spoke in low tones.  
  
"We have a photo shoot in half an hour." Yaten complained loudly. "Where's Minako and Hotaru?" He directed the question to the outer senshi. Haruka opened her mouth for a nasty retort, but never got the chance to deliver it.  
  
"Heeeeeeeere's Minako!" The familiar blonde burst into the fire room, Hotaru following close behind.   
  
"Yeah. Whatever." Hotaru swept the room with her intense violet gaze and then marched immediatly to her adoptive parents and said something that made all three of them forget about wishing for the death of Mamoru and grin widely.  
  
"Okay, since we're all here..." Mamoru hesiated a little, and continued. "We can finally start the meeting. And this is impor--"  
  
The door burst open, and another girl stepped into the room and slid it closed behind her. A black baseball cap was pulled low over her eyes.   
  
"You were going to start without me, Mamo-chan?" She sounded wounded, moockingly hurt. "I'm absolutely shocked. Really, I am." He felt her eyes drift over the room. "Wow. All of you, in one room, without a fight. What a time to forget my camera."  
  
As uncharacterisitic as anyone had ever seen the genius, Ami jumped to her feet with a squeal and tackled the newcomer, almost strangling her with a hug that rivaled Minako's.   
  
"It's her!" Keiko shrieked, making the starlights jump. "She's the one that stole MY broach."  
  
It was like a blizzard had suddenly decided to storm into the room. Everyone froze. Everyone except for the icey figure herself, who reached up, gracefully took the bill of her cap, and with a sweeping motion, pulled it off and shook her long, sunshine-gold pigtails down.   
  
All eyes followed the streamers of hair up to a pair of yellow odango, set on top of a heart-shaped face they all knew too well.  
  
"Usagi?" Rei asked stupidly.  
  
"Who stole whose broach?" Usagi glared daggers at Keiko, who clutched a stock-still Mamoru's arm like a lifeline. "I think we all know who it belongs to, Keiko-san. And it isn't you."  
  
"Go 'Sagi, Go 'Sagi, Go Sagi!" Minako chanted softly.   
  
"Usa-chan..." Seiya stood up, smiling. He all but powerwalked to her and embraced her tenderly. She hugged him back, her scowl vanishing at the familar embrace.   
  
"I missed you, Seiya." She whispered.  
  
"I don't believe it." Makoto muttered, but raced Rei to Usagi anyway. They fought to hug her. Yaten stood back, but was grinning anyway as Ami rushed Taiki, dancing some weird jig.   
  
"She's back she's back she's back!" Ami sang. "Back and back and back!"  
  
"Your cousin, huh?" Rei asked a smirking Haruka.   
  
"Hey, call it what you like." Haruka shrugged. "I tell some peopel Michiru's my cousin, too."  
  
Michiru's eyebrows flew to her hairline and she turned on her koi. "You WHAT?"  
  
Haruka had the grace to blush. "My mother would have died, Michiru. You've met her... and I heard you talking to your sister... I'm 'just a casual friend', am I?"  
  
Michiru looked at the ceiling innocently.  
  
"Hey, hey, everyone calm down for a moment." Hotaru shouted above the din, and Makoto reluctantly released her grip on the moon princess. "Besides her glorious return to Tokyo, Usagi has one more announcement." She grinned. "They're officially announcing it tonight, at some fancy banquet, but Minako here convinced Usagi that her closest friends deserve to find out before the rest of the world."  
  
Usagi smiled, and Mamoru felt his heart climb into his throat and his stomach slam into his ankles. "Michael, my gorgeous, hunky boyfriend bought a ring. I'm really not supposed to know about it. But it's an engagement ring..." Her eyes glowed with the meaning of it.  
  
Haruka's jaw hit the floor as everyone rushed-- everyone except Keiko and Mamoru-- to congradulate the happy blonde.  
  
"HE WHAT?!" She sputtered. "But-- but-- but-- I'M BEST WOMAN, DAMN IT!"  
  
"Mamo-chan..." Keiko tugged at Mamoru's arm. He hadn't moved, or breathed, since Usagi had removed her hat, but she had felt him tense at her announcement. Tense so tightly his muscles looked as though they might explode.  
  
Usagi had noticed as well. Flashing her most beautiful smile at him, the small crowd parted as she stepped forward, and her face went serious. She was not acting now.  
  
"Mamoru, I just want you to know I don't harbor any more hard feelings towards you. I've gotten over it, and moved on. I don't want to completely destroy your dignity or insult your intelligence by asking if we may 'just be friends'... but I'd like for you to be happy for me. Please?"   
  
It was complete silence as everyone, even the little cricket in the corner, held their breath.   
  
Mamoru let his breaht out little by little, and it took all of his years of discripiline to look his ex-girlfriend in the eye and nod as tightly as he could. "Alright, Usagi. I'm... Happy.... for you." He had to choke the words out, but he managed it.  
  
Usagi flew into his arms, giving him a hug. "Thank you!" She smiled, and then stood back, giving Keiko the kindest glare she could. "Same for you, Keiko. It isn't your fault."  
  
Keiko looked up at Mamoru. He did not look happy. She looked back at Usagi, and sighed, taking Usagi's extended hand. "Sure, Usagi. Besides, I've heard so much about you... it'd be nice if we could attempt being civil to one another."  
  
Usagi's smiled lasted as she nodded, and turned back to the senshi.  
  
"Somebody call for pizza! We're throwing a party. Anyone got a bone against sake? Because Hotaru... cough cough... just *happens* to have some..."  
  
Half an hour later, several boxed of pizza were stacks around the room, someone had turned up the music to an almost unbearable level of sound, and Usagi and convinced Seiya to dance with her. And it didn't take a fool to see that Mamoru, sitting stiffly in a corner, was bordering between fury and heartbreak.  
  
He had never imagined this.  
  
He'd always expected Usagi to come back: he *knew* she couldn't stay away. But he'd expected his innocent, sweet, little-a-girl, bubbly blonde, which was his first mistake. The woman teaching Seiya how to dance to punk rock music was neither bubbly, nor sweet, nor innocent. And in the six years she had been gone, her figure had matured completely, leaving her with a body that could melt a glacier.  
  
The second mistake was that he had expected her to forgive him and run back to his arms. She had-- but in a completely different way than he had wanted. *He* should be the one marrying her. Him, damn it!   
  
MInako saw him glaring at Usagi and brought a box of pizza with her as she went to sit beside him. She offered it to him.   
  
"Pepperoni and pineapple." She told him cheerfully, shoving the box him his face. He looked at her like she was crazy, forgetting he was evilly and insanely mad for a moment.  
  
Minako shrugged and started on a slice. "You know," She remarked, following his glare as it settled back on Usagi. "she really is happy with Michael, Mamoru. Happier than I've ever seen her. Happier than I expected to be." She looked up at him. "You really didn't expect her to run back to you, did you?" She questioned. "You hurt her in so many ways."  
  
"I didn't mean to." Mamoru muttered.  
  
Minako's jaw hung loose for a second, and a flame was struck in her eyes as she closed it. "I think that you need to get over this. She has. And you seemed *quite* happy with Keiko." She stomped away angrily.  
  
The exchange did not go unnoticed by Haruka. She took a long glance at Minako, who was stuffing pizza into her mouth as she fumed, and then at Mamoru, who was barely bothering to blink as he tried to maim Usagi with some sort of an eye laser-- oh, sorry. He was simply glaring so feircely his eyeballs might pop out. Excuse her.  
  
"I don't think Mamoru is very happy." She commented to Setsuna, who sat beside her. Michiru was across the good-sized room trying to convince Ami to dance with her, just for one song, it couldn't hurt.  
  
"What do you expect?" Setsuna chortled. "He's just learned that she wasn't dependant on him after all. It's a major crush to his extremely handsome ego."  
  
"I'll second that. If looks could kill, Usagi would have never been born." Yaten took a seat behind the duo. "I mean, wow."  
  
"Keiko's not taking it well, either." Setsuna indicated to the corner with the stereo, where the redhead was fumbling angrily with a pair of earplugs. "She knows that Mamoru still loved Usagi. This is the worst hour of her life. She has no idea if he'll keep her or drop her."  
  
Yaten shrugged. "It's not really her fault, you know. She told Taiki awhile ago. She had no idea that Mamoru already had a girlfriend. And he offered the broach to her after she saw him turn into Tuxedo Kamen. She had no idea."  
  
Haruka turned to give Yaten a dirty look. "Are you saying it's okay?" She demanded, daring him to argue.   
  
Yaten laughed nervously, fearing for his life. "Uhm, no! Of course not! I was jsut saying..." Her eye twitched and he wisely chose to close his mouth.   
  
"So... have they set a date yet?" He asked, and nearly melted with relief when Haruka stoped the death glare and actually smiled at him.  
  
"Not yet." She answered.  
  
Setsuna watched as Seiya almost fell over, partially from the dancing and mostly from the sake. "Usagi is visiting her parents day after tomorrow, because tomorrow she and Michael are going to a banquet. She and Michiru is going to spend the eariler part of tomorrow touching up Michael's Japanese, so that he won't say something that will make Kenji break a baseball bat over his head."  
  
Setsuna suddenly chuckled mysteriously. "I don't think we'll have to worry about baseball bats."  
  
Haruka frowned at her. "What do you mean?"  
  
At the same time, Yaten wondered, "Aren't you suppose to keep those things secret?"  
  
"I'm on vacation, damn it!" Setsuna cackled. "And no, there will be no baseball bat in two days. There will be an automatic shotgun, though." She began to hum the tune from Mission: Impossible and went in search of more pizza.  
  
Yaten shook his head. "I think I missed something."  
  
Haruka nodded slowly. "Me, too."  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
  
"Koneko, aren't you ready yet?"  
  
"ALMOST! Leave me alone!"  
  
"But Usa, we're going to be late!"  
  
Hotaru answered for Usagi as she added a final touch of make-up to her princess's face. "EVER HEARD OF A WOMAN SCORNED?" She shrieked, pulling Usagi to her feet and spinning her around, straightening the slinky red dress at a rate that would have made Calvin Kline faint in jealousy.  
  
Setsuna stepped forward, and together she and Hotaru inspected their handiwork.  
  
"Well, I must say, your mother would kill me for letting you wear this." Setsuna remarked.   
  
Hotaru grinned wickedly. "Mike's going to have to carry a club to beat the other guys off, Usagi. This dress is a knock-out." She whistled.   
  
"What;s going on up there?" Michael called.  
  
"Patience!" Setsuna muttered. Giving Usagi a final lookover, she smiled. "Alright, princess. You're good to go."   
  
Usagi smiled, and looked in the mirror one final time.  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
She remembered when she was fourteen and had no confidence. Mamoru had never helped with that... he was a college guy, handsome, debonair, and utterly elegant, whereas she was the dumpy kid going through puberty and wondering why the hell she was on the arm of a god.  
  
She was twenty-four now. Michael smiled warmly at her as he gave her his arm, and the butterflies that had errupted in her stomach, sending her back to fourteen, were hit with a can of Raid.  
  
"Do you think I should take a baseball bat in with me?" He asked her, looking genuinely worried.   
  
Forgetting how good of an acter he was for a moment, she frowned. "Why?"  
  
Grin. "I'm going to have to beat the other guys off of you, Usa-chan. You're the most beautiful woman in the world."  
  
She blushed, and hooked her gloved arm around his, and reached up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "Flattery gets you everywhere." She murmured in his ear, causing him to grin wolfishly.  
  
She remembered the look he gave her as she waltzed down the stairs. SHe remembered the look *Haruka* had given her, and Haruka had already seen her in the dress.  
  
She had gone accessory shopping with Setsuna. After a hour and a perfect pair of red stilletos, black gloves, and a necklace that would justify everything short of mass murder, she even had to admit that she was a knockout. It was sexy, but conservative enough to wear to the banquet without scandalizing too many people.  
  
"I'm so nervous." She whispered to him, as they walked towards the huge glass doors, where two doormen in snazzy uniforms were at attention, ready to leapt to open the doors. "I know some of these people."  
  
He smiled again. "Usagi, you're gorgeous, you're smart, and you're mine. You've got nothing to be nervous about... but if you feel uncomfortable, just catch my eye and I'll come rescue my damsel."  
  
"I always wanted a knight with blonde curly hair." She teased.   
  
She held his arma little tighter, though, as the doors were opened befoer them and Michael led her though.  
  
She had been to several of these, but they were all in America, where the men in suits were unfamilar and all spoke several different accents of English and smoked cigars. The women were all older than she, more refined, more used to having everything offered to them on silver platters, and were never flustered to had to search for a word while covering their accents. The music had been strange, the food was even more so, and whenever Michael wasn't near she always felt like an intruder.  
  
The strains of music that floated to her ears now was very familiar, ait soothed her a little. "I know this song." She said, smiling, the last of the butterflies vanishing. "It's my mother's favorite song."  
  
The second the words left her lips, she heard another voice exclaim, "Oh, I just love this song, Shingo-chan."  
  
She twisted around and got the second largest shock of her life. The first would come a few hours later.  
  
It was her mother, on the arm of her much older, much more matured brother. Michael turned as well, curious to see what had caught his girlfriend's attention.  
  
"Do you know them?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Mama!" Her voice was a half squeak, half squeal.   
  
Ikuko's blue eyes, which had been gazing into space, suddenly focused on the blonde woman in front of her, who was looking almost as startled as her date.  
  
She felt her heart screech to a stop. "Usagi?!" She released her son's arm and tore her daughter away from Michael, hugging her as hard as she could. "Usagi!" She cried.  
  
"Mama..." Usagi whispered, hugging her back, not caring about all the strange looks she was getting. "Oh, I missed you."   
  
"How long--" Ikuko began, but Usagi answered.  
  
"Just a couple of days. I was coming to see you tomorrow... but.... oh my god... Mama..." She hugged her again.   
  
Shingo was standing, stunned. Michael was about the same, and he noticede Shingo.  
  
"Hello, I'm Michael Stanton." He extended his hand. Shingo was confused for a moment, and then shook it warmly.  
  
"I'm Shingo... Tsukino." His eyes were locked on his mother and his sister. "Geesh. Odango Atama grew up. She's actually pretty."  
  
Michael followed his gaze. "Yeah. Pretty." He echoed, chuckling. "You're her..."  
  
"Brother." He eyed Michael warily. "And you?"  
  
Michael looked surprised. "Usa-chan never mentioned she had a brother. She's my girlfriend." He looked at Shingo closer. "You don't look at all alike."  
  
"Flattery!" Usagi had overheard it.   
  
The name finally registered with Shingo. "YOU'RE Michael Stanton?" His vocie held a note of excitement. "Hey, Odango, how did you manage to get one of the best diplomats in the free world as your date?"  
  
"Six years and you haven't matured a bit." Usagi hugged him happily. "But you did grow." She added, dismayed to learn that she had to look up at him.   
  
"Hn. You're just short."  
  
"Shingo, be nice to your sister." Ikuko ordered sternly, and then giggled. "You're both grown adults and I have to treat you like a couple of squabling preteens." She wiped away her happy tears with a hankercheif and smiled at Michael. "Now, Usagi, why don't you introduce me to this dashing young man?"  
  
Shingo leapt in.   
  
"Mama, this is Michael *Stanton*, the guy that Father had been raving about. He's the one who drew up all those proposals and treatywork. He wrote a flawless contract between the government and the hospitals so that things would run smoother."  
  
Michael pulled Usagi close. "None of it would have happened if it were not for this beautiful woman right here. She's behind all of it, I tell you."  
  
Usagi went red. "Michael, I am not. Stop embarrassing me in front of my own mother."  
  
"You had no qualms about seaizing every chance to embarrass me in front of mine--"  
  
"Your sister and your mother both helped me!" She protested, looking up at him with an innocent pout. He melted.  
  
"Alright, alright." He bowed respectfully to Ikuko, who returned it. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the family of the love of my life. I was beginning to think she just fell from heaven."  
  
Usagi blushed an even darker shade of fushia and Ikuko smiled.   
  
"Usagi? Heaven?" Shingo snorted. "Yeah. And I'm the king of the trolls."  
  
"Sirs? Madams? You're blocking the doorways, please." An overly polite bellhop nervously broke up the minmature reunion. Michael nodded.   
  
"He's right. Let us resign to our fate." He joked.  
  
The four of them alked into the hall and were immediatly swarmed. Usagi was swept away into a sea of women that she vaguely recognized, and Michael was in the center of a throng of men who were all congradulating him. Usagi watched him bow and shake hands, helpless, before turning her attention to her own questions and hugs.  
  
Ikuko watched her daughter answer all the questions gracefully and politely. This was the happiest day of her entire life, she was sure. She'd all but given up hope on ever seeing her daughter again, and then here she was, happy and content.  
  
MIchael was completely at home, amazed at how little changed when you were on the other side of the world and there were still cigar-smoking politicians congradulating on the beauty of his date.  
  
A man speaking Japanese with a heavy French accent winked at him. "You should tie the knot with that one before she gets away, Stanton."  
  
"I plan to." Michael fingered the box in his pocket. "Believe me, I plan to."  
  
~'~  
  
  
Not a single word about the next chapter from me! It's a bit plot piece, and completely evil! You'll see! 


	5. Noitaku: Foe

Lover's Last Breath  
Chapt 5  
  
Sorry it took so long, minna-chan!  
  
  
  
She was having a good time, Usagi realized with a start. No, she was having a fantastic time. She could understand every word being said to her, Michael kept giving her that smile of his that made her want to melt into a little puddle on the floor, and she was able to get hold of her mother and drag her into the sea, and she was able to gossip as much as she wanted without feeling like an outsider.  
  
Shingo had grown tall and handsome. She hated to admit it, but he had. And her mother was as beautiful as ever. She just wanted to die right then, so she could live in euphoria forever.  
  
She was so busy telling her mother and the French diplomat about New York that she didn't notice Michael being pushed towards the podium in the center of the room. She didn't notice Shingo giving him the thumbs up and switching on the microphone, or anything else until her boyfriend leaned into the mike and cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention after a few seconds.  
  
Usagi turned, and frowned. He had said nothing about a speech... She shrugged it off. His Japanese was good enough, and besides...  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen..." He said carefully, cheerfully. "I've been forced up here to make a very special request. You see, I came here with my lovely, dazzling, sweet, kind, and fantastic girlfriend." He motioned to Usagi, who was slowly turning red. "She's right there. Everyone agree?" His eye caught on Chiba Mamoru, who was a new arrival to the congregation.   
  
Nods and a murmur of agreement brought him back. He grinned. "Well, you see, that group of renegades over there all said I should marry her before she finds a lesser man." He shrugged. "And hey, why not?" He walked around the podium and up to Usagi, who had her hands clasped over her mouth in realization of what he was doing. Ikuko was crying already, smiling as she never had.   
  
Michael knelt before her and brought out the box, looking into her eyes. His grin faded. He drew a deep breath and opened it. "Will you marry me, love bunny?"  
  
A cricket chirped somewhere in the night.  
  
Usagi gazed at the ring, her mind spinning. It was gorgeous, a single white diamond accompanied by two smaller sapphires on either side on a gold band. She opened her mouth and tried twice to speak. Finally, she just nodded, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.  
  
She blinked, and then Michael had her in his arms, hugging her to him, kissing her cheek and sliding the ring onto her finger. She hugged him back, crying and laughing at the same time.  
  
And suddenly, her's and Mamoru's eyes connected.   
  
"I'm happy for you." He mouthed, in defeat.  
  
She nodded.  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
Dark, exotically shaped, obsidian eyes watched Usagi accept the ring and narrowed. An elegant hand clothed in black satin clenched into a tight fist and a low voice that could have been either male or female hissed a few choice curse words angrily as the eyes centered in on Michael.  
  
"How dare he..." The beautiful rasp was unheard in the night. "She is not his to take. She is MINE." The eyes moved to Mamoru, who was standing in the back, looking for all the world like a betrayed puppy. "Why doesn't he DO something, that foul coward?  
  
"Ara, better that American than a coward. But better me than him..."  
  
A low chuckle startled a bellhop on his smoking break. The young man turned, and the very last thing he saw in his life was the silver glint of a razor sharp edge and laughing black eyes and a wave of beautiful shimmering black hair that almost looked like volcanic glass....  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
The band had struck up into a slow dance song, uncommon at those kinds of banquets, but, after all, exceptions must be made for exceptional events, ne? And besides, no one had objected in the slightest. Most everyone had found a dance partner and the floor was full of brilliantly colored skirts and heels and boots. It was a dream. A beautiful, wonderful, magical dream.  
  
No one could have imagined what came next, not even the eternally paranoid Hotaru. No one expected the eerie sound of shattering glass to blend in so darkly with a chord the violinists had just played, and no one was really expecting as arrows flew towards the band and each musician fell with a silver point in their neck, blood staining the instruments which fell and broke on the lush violet carpeting.  
  
Mamoru, Keiko, and Usagi found the source instinctively, immediately. Using speed and grace that seven years ago she wasn't even close to having, threw Michael to the floor as three more flashes of silver were thrown their way. Mamoru slipped away from the party, and Keiko fell into a defensive stance as the room was emptied by panicking upperclassmen and women.   
  
Tuxedo Kamen returned as soon as the last hysterical woman left, and as he swept into the room, a lone figure emerged from the ruins of the strained glass.   
  
Michael stared up at Usagi.  
  
"Honey, you know I love it when you're aggressive, but next time-- warn me?" He winced, holding his arm from where he had landed funny. Tuxedo Kamen and the new arrival both glared at him.   
  
"How dare you dishonor the queen by such a vulgar comment?" The tall figure rasped, slinging its hair behind it, revealing a terribly beautiful face that was deceptively feminine.   
  
He was tall, very tall, half a head taller than Michael's six foot three, and his glimmering onyx hair brushed the back of his thighs. He wore a full black bodysuit that clung to his muscles and extended to gloves that covered his long, elegant fingers. His boots, made of a fashion none of them had ever seen before, went up to his knees and were dark metal. Thick lashes framed his exotically shaped black eyes, cruel eyes. His lips were full and pinky red.  
  
He was the most beautiful, most cruel thing Usagi had ever seen.  
  
And so very familiar....  
  
"Noitaku!" She exclaimed before she knew was she was saying. She clasped a hand over her mouth as she remembered where she had seen that face before. Ignoring Michael's questions, she stood up and walked slowly, as though she had been displaced from the world, towards him. "How can it be you? It isn't you-- is it? Noitaku-chan? Tomodachi?" She was only a few steps away from him now.  
  
He extended his hand, smiling a pretty smile. "Serenity. It's been much too long, but you haven't changed. Not a bit." He crossed the remaining distance and embraced her warmly.  
  
Michael climbed to his feet, a little bewildered. Tuxedo Kamen took up a protective stance in front of Keiko, and glared hard at Noitaku.  
  
Usagi pulled out of the hug and backed away a little. "How did you survive? And why did you kill those people?" Her voice was calm, and it was more of a command than a question. Tuxedo Kamen realized that the two were more formal which each other than appearances be, and she was well aware of her status.   
  
The expression on the strange newcomer's face fell instantly, and became almost resentful, definitely angry, at least. He gave a slight bow and managed a sly smirk.  
  
"Roaches always find a way to crawl out of the ashes of destruction, my dearest princess-queen. And what better way to empty a room of filthy humans than to show a little red?"   
  
Michael, Keiko, and Tuxedo Kamen watched as Usagi drew herself up to her full height and her chin took a stubborn, graceful tilt. Her eyes grew colder and her body tensed, you could SEE it. Slowly she nodded, as though thinking over a decision. Michael stood quietly, watching, learning.  
  
"Alright. I can accept that. You have your own way of thinking. Careless bloodshed will not be tolerated from you, Noitaku. You are intelligent, educated, and civilized." Tuxedo Kamen was abruptly taken back into a memory of Queen Serenity standing tall in a white gown, her characteristically serene face stern and foreboding as she spoke those exact same words before a congregation, a man just like Noitaku standing before her, waiting, Serenity so much taller than he even though he towered over her.  
  
And now, Usagi stood, stunningly seductive in her red dress, and yet he kept seeing a white gown that swept butterfly kisses over opal-colored crystal. She spoke those words in a low commanding tone of voice, but he heard a softer, sadder melody of a voice. Her perfume, jasmine and sandalwood, was fused with his memory of white lilies and ocean.   
  
He was seeing the old queen instead of the neo.  
  
"Of course. Of course. You *have* changed. How silly of me not to realize... after all, you were so different from your mother. She at least chose a respectful Lunarian to sleep with. You managed to acquire the vile habit of taking terrans to bed."  
  
Her hand struck out before anyone could register a movement, and Noitaku was on the floor, holding his face tenderly, scowling up at her. Her gaze was an inferno of fury.  
  
"I will not listen to that, coming from you." Her whisper was thunderous. "Tell me your reason for coming here and leave."  
  
"I came for you." Noitaku's grin sent shuddered up the spine like fingernails on a blackboard. "I came for you. You will return with me, Princess of the White Moon, or I will see this planet burn."  
  
~'~  
  
  
Tuxedo Kamen was stunned into paralysis, and Michael's head tilted slightly, in disbelief, in surprise. Keiko scowled and straightened up, confident that there was no threat to her. This new beautiful man was threatening, she recognized that, but as long as she didn't interfere or make herself a target, she knew that she wouldn't be touched.  
  
Usagi nodded.   
  
"You are challenging me." She stated smoothly, waiting for his response, which came the second the last word left her lips.  
  
"No, I'm inviting you home to tea." Noitaku's grin faded into an intense scowl. "Yes, I'm challenging you-- to defy me. You should not be wasted on some earthling who can barely grunt!"  
  
Usagi's face darkened. "You're treading on dangerous territory, Noi. And it isn't your own."  
  
"Will you come with me?" Noitaku insisted.  
  
One of her delicate eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "You're kidding, right? You Solites have always had ego problems. Mother should have just killed you all off like she wanted instead of making treaties. Will I come with you? Never. Try your war-- with what army? You're a fool, Noitaku. You're quite the fool. Have you forgotten Queen Serenity's power? Do you really think I am so much weaker?" Michael could have sworn he saw lightning flare outside, so ominous and rageful Usagi had become.   
  
"How dare you come onto a planet that is not your own and try to intimidate its queen? Do you *want* to die?!"  
  
Noitaku stepped forward to strike her down, but a rose tipped in silver shot by, scratching his hand, freezing him in his tracks. He screamed and clawed at his injury, the silver scorching his flesh more than the worst of fires.  
  
Usagi smirked, and pushed him back as he howled. "LEAVE." She commanded.  
  
He glared up at her, spat something out in a strange language, and vanished in a torrent of orange flame.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Tuxedo Kamen demanded, as Usagi stumbled back, exhausted.   
  
She took Michael's arm, and used him to lean on. Her eyes were locked on the floor as she answered.  
  
"He's a solarian prince." She whispered wearily. "He just declared war on earth. His army is composed of fire and heat. This will be a hard fight... he wanted me for his queen." She sighed, and the locket was in her hand. "His first youma, warning, should arrive in a few moments. Call the other senshi and be prepared. Warn Mars and Jupiter not to attack; they will only help the youma grow stronger." She transformed quickly, making Michael jump back in shock. It didn't matter, though, because she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the doors.   
  
"Com'on, loverboy. You're not going to be anywhere near this place when these youma show up. You're getting a senshi escort home."  
  
She dragged him outside, where most all the people that had attended the banquet were gathered. Sailor Moon groaned and waved her arms, trying to get everyone's attention. Luckily, the appearance of a senshi didn't take long to have them all at least looking at her.  
  
"ALRIGHT, PEOPLE!" She shouted. It grew silent. "I'd advise that everyone leave, RIGHT NOW, because we have information that two youma are headed this way. DO NOT PANIC. You have time. Just not a lot of it. Everyone, leave! Anyone who tries to stay will be forcefully removed by Sailor Uranus."  
  
Sailor Moon had Michael by the arm, and when he heard that statement, he groaned quietly. "What a threat to make, love." He muttered, and then almost fell over his own feet as his fiancée moved again, dragging him through the crowd quickly.  
  
And he knew why, soon enough. Everyone was shouting questions at both of them. Sailor moon only stopped when Shingo stopped her.  
  
"Excuse me, Sailor Moon-sama--" He said, making the blonde superheroine stop dead in her tracks. She turned to stare at her brother. She could see Ikuko behind him.  
  
"Yes?" She asked, motioning to Michael. "I'm trying to get him out of here. Quick. He's a target." She relaxed a little... she could feel senshi moving her way. "What can I do for you?"  
  
Shingo gave Michael a queer look. "It's my sister... I can't find her..."  
  
"Usagi is safe." Michael said, before Sailormoon could open her mouth. "Tuxedo Kamen is helping her. She wasn't hurt at all." He gave Ikuko a thumbs up. "And this gorgeous lady right here is going to help me home."  
  
Sailormoon gave him a dirty look. "In your dreams, loverboy. Sailor Mars is escorting you home." She pointed to a senshi in red and violet, who stood in front of the other inner senshi just a few feet away.   
  
Michael sputtered, recognizing Rei. "You're kidding!"  
  
"Nope." Sailor Moon smirked and managed to drag him to a concerned Mars.  
  
"Mars, these youma are going to be made of fire. You can't help in anyway except protecting Michael. The new guy is pissed at both him and Tuxedo Kamen. Michael can explain on your way home." She shoved a reluctant Michael into Rei's arms. "Hurry. I don't know how much time we have." She added, urgently.   
  
Mars nodded. "Com'on, Michael." She grabbed his wrist and started running down the road, pulling him behind her.  
  
"Why do I feel like a five year old?" Michael yelled, just before they disappeared around the corner.  
  
Venus giggled. "Kawaii!" She sighed, dreamily. Jupiter had left to direct foot traffic, and was currently telling some bigwig exactly where he could put his four hundred million yen, because he had TO GO!  
  
Mercury sweatdropped. "Uhm, maybe I should go help Jupiter..." She murmured, and then ran to play peacemaker.  
  
Venus looked at Sailormoon curiously. "Tuxedo Kamen put out a call to us, and the outers, and the starlights. I'm surprised he didn't call for the Amazoness Quartet and the Ayaksi Sisters. He sounded like he wanted to-- he asked where Coonan was... What's going on?"  
  
Sailormoon looked around. No one was very close. "Venus, do you remember Prince Noitaku? Beautiful bastard that Mother hated?"  
  
Venus bit her lip, but nodded. "Yeah, I think. But why?"  
  
"Well, I just pissed him off royally. He somehow survived-- and wants me as queen. I kind of forgot about his subjects for a moment and told him off-- so he declared war on earth. As is Solarian standards, his warning youma should be along in a few moments." She sighed, putting a hand behind her head and looking down. "I just got so angry... he said that terrans weren't worthy of me... I hate feeling superior... that's what he made me feel..."  
  
"I understand." Venus said softly, as the outer senshi, minus Pluto, jumped down from the roof of the banquet hall and the Starlights came forth from the shadows. The last of the people that remained ran at the pissed look on Uranus's face, and the slightly amused look on Neptune's didn't help.  
  
"We were in the middle of something, you know!" She thundered, stomping towards Sailormoon, ready to kill.   
  
Venus stifled a laugh as Sailormoon shrugged. "I was in the middle of my celebratory dance. Do you think I want to be in uniform either? I was kind of happy... six years without the wings." She sighed. "Ara, ne, no one wants this. But it has come and we can not do anything about it except stop it before innocent people are harmed. Tuxedo Kamen is inside. One of you might like to get Keiko-san out of here before the youma come... or better yet, give her this." Sailormoon fumbled with her subspace pocket for a moment and came up with something very familiar.  
  
"But that's..." Saturn began slowly, her eyes darting from the broach on Sailormoon's chest to the locket in the blonde's gloved hand.  
  
"It's the training broach. A modified version of Chibi-usa's. I worked on it... it should fit her." Sailormoon grinned. "Her name is Sailor Neith."  
  
Venus's eyebrows rose into her hariline and she sputtered. "NEITH?" She looked like someone had slapped her. "Of all the moons in the solar system, why mine?"  
  
"Because she's an inner soldier now, and other than Mars' two moons, which would have affected the moon magic of the locket by calling her so, you've got the only other one. And since the moon and Venus are closely aligned anyway, it was the only logical thing to do."   
  
"I hate you. You're not supposed to be smart."  
  
"So sue me."  
  
"I might!" Venus huffed.  
  
"Sure...."  
  
"WHAT IS ~*THAT*~!!!???"  
  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
  
Jupiter's shocked cry made Sailormoon spin around, adreniline pumping through her blood like nothing before. She went pale at the sight of the towering columns of flame, standing over three meters tall, easily. Venus watched the blood drain from her leader's face as saw the flickering blue and white lights  
on the smooth concrete.  
  
"I don't want to turn around, do I?" She asked quietly, but as she did, she turned just in time to watch Neptune fire off a Submarine Reflection at the youma closest to her.   
  
"Mercury Aqua Rhaspody!" Mercury threw her own attack at the other. There was a little sizzle and a quick dimming, but if one had dared blink, they would have missed the affect of the attacks. But you could see it in Mercury's face. The intelligent woman knew that her strongest had failed, and she had seen all that Neptune's power had done: nothing.   
  
It would be an understatement to say that they were in for a difficult fight.  
  
"Oh, shit-- Silence Wall!" Saturn screamed out, as one of the columns broke in half and the upper part was sent flying at Tuxedo Kamen, who had just stepped out of the hall, a senshi in violet and blue behind him. The wall flew up just barely in time and vanished as it hit the purple light.   
  
There was a loud hiss and the column doubled itself back up into its original side. The senshi of destruction could feel it glaring at her.  
  
"How do we kill them?" Fighter asked, dodging the small raindrops of fire the second column had decided to throw around. "Sailormoon!"  
  
"I've never had to fight them-- how the hell should I know?" Sailormoon cursed in frustration and ran, startling Maker as the blonde superheroine grabbed the tall woman's shoulder and pushed off of it to throw herself into a flip.   
  
"What the---" Maker whirled to find that Sailormoon didn't return to earth, instead, she floated a few meters above the youma.   
  
"And this..." There was a silence as the queer hissing the youma were emitting died immediately and the senshi froze, watching her. "... is what I... have prepared for..." The voice came from somewhere around the hovering Sailormoon, but the leader's lips never moved once. "... for I am... only... what I am..."  
  
Silver flashed and it took Tuxedo Kamen a moment to realize that it was her eyes-- Sailormoon's eyes-- that had flashed so very brightly.   
  
Her hands, which had been clasped tightly behind her back, now released each other and she drew them slowly to her front. In her left hand she held a scepter that was slender and plain wood, the color of aged oak. At its top sat a red ball encased in silver. The red shone pink on the air around her, giving her a strange, inhuman luminance that made her seem more goddess than woman.  
  
Her humanity was lost entirely as that lipless voice sounded again, a low, spine-chilling whisper that mumbled words that had been long forgotten, words that existed before Babel and that the gods themselves had forgotten how to speak.  
  
It filled the air, broken only by the command that Sailormoon gave next.  
  
"Star-beam eternal silvermoon...." Her lips pronounced each syllable perfectly and clearly, like the tone of a bell. They rang out into the reddened air like nothing had ever before as gold-silver lightning arched into the sky, dancing around her form and out several yards into the air around her, sculpting a loose sphere around her as they waited for her final command.  
  
Her eyes were so beautiful, Tuxedo Kamen realized, as awe danced over his masked features. His eyes had widened slightly at the magnificent display of pure power. He had given this up. He had given her up. This perfect creature was no longer his.  
  
The thought was mournful in his mind and bitter-sad on his lips.   
  
The air sizzled and cracked with the energy. Saturn, who stood closest, shivered as a gust of icy cold wind hit her, and then started violently with shock. The power was cold, she realized, not hot. It would not help their foe but annihilate them.  
  
The most slight of smiles lingered fleetingly on Usagi's lips. The bodiless voice stopped suddenly, leaving the night very, very silent.  
  
"...eclipse..." Sailormoon formed the word with satisfaction. As soon as the last sound caressed her lips, the sphere rushed forward, free of the barriers that had kept it only seconds before. The flames of the columns shuddered, as though they knew the end approached.  
  
And with an explosion to deafen Zeus himself, their end no longer approached.  
  
It was there.  
  
~'~  
  
  
  
"You can NOT tell me you didn't wear the wings for six years. Where the FUCK did you learn to do that?! That was something that I've never even heard of before, and I was lectured for fourteen years on exactly what a queen can and CAN NOT do! That WAS NOT IN THE BOOK!"  
  
Sailor Pluto was having nothing short of a breakdown. Uranus was barely keeping her restrained. It had taken both Fighter, Healer, and Saturn to wrestle the orb away. Jupiter looked worried. Venus was giggling. Mercury did her best not to look fascinated. Neptune and Maker were staring openly upon the most controlled senshi. Tuxedo Kamen had fled at the first threat to his manhood, taking Neith with him.  
  
Sailormoon was busy inspecting the smoking cinders the flamers had left, and didn't even look up at the furious Pluto. "So? I never read the book. No one told the bumblebee." She pushed aside a smoldering brick and kicked around the ash under it.   
  
"The BUMBLEBEE is just a bloody BEE! You are a QUEEN, and YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER!" Pluto boomed, struggling madly.  
  
"Yes, I do." Sailormoon informed her calmly. She smiled as she found what she was looking for. Picking up two small, orange objects, she pocketed them.   
  
"By the way," her smile stretched a little further, "no one dehenshin. There's a newschopter up there. Split up, go separate directions, and dehenshin in a secluded place." She sauntered over to Maker and glanced up at the sky. Maker followed her glance. Sure enough, she could see the helicopter. And they were so low that she could even make out the reporter leaning out the side with a camera. Their every move was being captured on tape.  
  
"I want some controversy." Sailormoon said decisively. "Sorry about that, Maker." She reached up, circled her arms around the taller woman's neck, and pulled her down into a kiss.  
  
At this, Pluto broke out into another rant. "That's not in the book either! STOP KISSING HER! You're not ALLOWED! YOU'RE ENGAGED! DO YOU HEAR ME? Stop it! I swear to the gods I will have you... ARHG! ALL OF THE TORTURES ARE FORBIDDEN! WHY????"  
  
Sailormoon danced away from a paralyzed Maker. "I must go and see what's left of my fiancée." She blew Uranus a kiss and opened her wings.  
  
she had disappeared in a matter of seconds.   
  
Uranus looked down at Pluto. "Are you okay?"  
  
Pluto took a deep breath. "Who knows?" But Uranus released her anyway.   
  
Pluto immediately stomped over to Saturn and all but ripped the girl's hand off retrieving her orb. She cooed over it for a moment, checking for scratches and other injuries. To everyone's relief, she found none.  
  
"Now, doesn't anyone else find that our dearest queen just displayed more power than all the gods have combined a little, eensey bit CURIOUS?" She asked, more or less calmly, and looked at the congregation of senshi angrily.  
  
Fighter, of course, had an intelligent comment. "Uhm... isn't she supposed to?"   
  
Even Mercury sweatdropped.   
  
"I'm not an expert on this or anything... but..." Venus giggled a little nervously. "Usa-chan has changed a little... perhaps she's just moved up to a new stage of power... it wasn't all that curious... I think..."  
  
"Venus?" Jupiter asked quietly.  
  
"Uh-hmm?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Kay." Venus was very happy to comply.   
  
Neptune covered up a snigger with a loud cough. "Hey, it's getting late and that helicopter is starting to bother me. May we go home now, Uranus? Or shall we wait for more youma that we probably couldn't beat without Sailormoon?"  
  
Uranus looked at Saturn, who shrugged. "Alright, then. Opposite directions, right?" She replaced her sword into her subspace pocket. "Let's do it."  
  
The Starlights left first, branching into three opposite directions, staying in the shadows. The remaining inner senshi did the same, followed a few minutes later by the outers. Pluto fired off a dead scream at the helicopter as she left, earning a curse from Neptune.   
  
~'~ 


End file.
